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Sunday, January 5, 2014

7 Squat Faults and Quick Fixes

Let's face it: most average gym-goers don't know how to squat. It could be that they're simply unaware of what the proper depth should be. Or maybe they lack the mind-muscle connection to keep their knees from caving in and their pelvis from tucking under. Perhaps they just let their egos get in the way, causing them to put more weight on the bar than they can handle.

The thing is, everyone is born with a perfect squat. Just watch young children at play. Somewhere along the line, though, many of us lose the mobility, stability, and coordination necessary to perform a proper squat. You're safe if you plan to sit on the couch for the rest of your life, but if you lack the aforementioned qualities and routinely load up sets of heavy squats, poor form will almost inevitably lead to injury.

Now, not everyone is built for ass-to-grass squatting, but anyone who's serious about minimizing their risk of injury and improving their movement quality should make it a goal to squat to parallel (or below) without assistance. The trouble is, that kind of improvement takes diligence and time, and most of us want to squat now.

The good new is that we have plenty of tricks up our sleeve to get squatting right away. Below, I detail 7 common squat faults and quick fixes. Many of these faults come in pairs; likewise, the fixes can be combined. Do yourself a favor and start out with light weights -- bodyweight, even. Progress slowly and intelligently from there.

For joint integrity and muscle balance, you always want to strengthen through a full range of motion. In terms of the squat, unless you're a seasoned bodybuilder, quarter and half squats just don't cut it. You want to make sure you're always squatting at least to a depth where your femurs are parallel to the floor, if not slightly below parallel if you are able. To ensure appropriate depth, squat to a box. Gradually reduce the height of the box as you ensure proficiency.

Heels coming off the floor in the squat is indicative of limited range of motion at the ankle. Stretching the calves can help, but gaining dorsiflexion mobility often takes a bit of time. In order to squat right away, simply elevate the heels on weight plates or a 2x4. Gradually reduce the height of the lift over a period of several weeks to get you down to the floor.

Maintaining a forward tilt to the pelvis and, consequently, a neutral spine is the key to avoiding injury to the low back when squatting. Many squatters tend to "butt wink," or lose their anterior pelvic tilt, at the bottom of their squat. This fault can be very dangerous for the lumbar spine if heavy weight is involved. If you tuck under at the bottom,elevating your heelscan also clean that right up. Limitations in ankle dorsiflexion often manifest themselves higher up the chain.

Fault #4. Valgus collapse

Photo courtesy: http://curexercise.com/183

Just like the neutral spine position, you want to maintain a neutral knee position throughout the squat. That is, your knees should track directly over the middle of your foot, not inside the big toe. Valgus collapse, or "knock knees," occurs when the knees cave inward during the squat. The trick to correcting valgus is actually to exaggerate the mistake by squatting with a mini-band placed just above the knees. The band triggers the activation of the muscles of the outer hip, spreading the hips and keeping the knees in neutral.

Ankle pronation is the trifecta of excessive ankle eversion, dorsiflexion, and abduction. Basically, a medial weight-shift occurs to the insides of the feet as the outsides lift off the floor. Ankle pronation often accompanies valgus. Just inspect the ankles of the gentleman on the right of the photo from the previous section (labeled "Bad"). The quick fix for pronation is also the heel lift.

In a side view of a perfect squat, if you were to draw lines through the lower leg and torso, the lines would never intersect. Many squatters exhibit far too much torso flexion, or forward lean. Cuing a "proud chest" sometimes does the trick, but a sure-fire way to gain a more erect torso is to squat with a light dumbbell or kettlebell held in the "goblet" position. The weight acts as a counterbalance, thereby conferring a more upright torso.

A little bit of external rotation (outward flare of the feet) is acceptable, but any more than 30 degrees puts you into sumo squat territory, which is a different exercise entirely. If your feet naturally rotate out as squat, it might be due to tight hamstrings. Stretching the hamstrings can correct this fault immediately. There are lots of hamstring stretches out there, but lying on your back with a rope in hand is best.

Summary

Squatting (correctly) is one of the best bang-for-the-buck exercises known to man. Just about everyone should be doing some squat variation once or twice per week.

Just remember, the quick fixes presented above are meant to get you squatting correctly right away, but many of them are only short-term solutions to complex mobility, stability, and coordination issues. The end goal is always to perform a perfect bodyweight squat without any assistance. To realize this goal, consistent and long-term attention must be paid to your unique problem areas. Happy squatting!